Got there and it was done, what should i do

I got to a customers house the other day and it was already cut (by them because the mower was sitting out) I knocked on the door and no one answerd the door so I left. I gave them a call today to see what the deal is and if I'm still even cutting for them so we'll see what happens when I get a call back.

The thing that p's me off is I've been trying to keep all my accounts from burning so I cut them alittle higher and have been hitting them every 8 days, well they go and butcher the crap out of their yard, had to have been cut on 2" or less. So I can only imagine what it looks like now, if it even needs cut.

Heres the problem, my contracts don't say anything about a penelty charge for driving out and it being done already, just says if they're unhappy they can cancel service with 2 weeks notice and they still have to pay for the following two weeks of service. Well I timed it and it took me 20 mins to get to the place, stop, and get back to where I had to be (yes its out of the way but its a large property=good money) so I wasted 20 mins and fuel to get there, so I thought about putting a charge in there for 15 bucks for wasting my time. Should I do that even though its not stated in the contracts, would that be out of line? I think I have to change my contracts up to include that and a fuel surcharge. It's going to suck for them if they cancel and don't want me to mow anymore because they WILL be chaged for 2 cuts and the wasted time of driving out there the one time.

Bill them for a full cut and make sure you put that in your contracts for next season..

"If lawn cannot be safely maintained on the scheduled day, due to other contractors or people on the property; or if lawn has already been serviced by another property maintenance company, or homeowner; Weekly property maintenance for that day will be cancelled and billed at FULL rate."

They still get billed as a regular weekly cut...period..We had a new client lose her husband a few years ago, and she called us a few weeks later to take over the lawn. One week, her family was in to visit, and a neighbor came over to mow her grass. We pulled up to mow at the same time. I told him we were contracted to mow the lawn, but thanks anyway. He said he'd cut it for a few weeks to save her some money. I told him it didn't matter to me, she'd still get a bill, so he could cut the lawn and pay me when he was done as well,.... if he really wanted to help her out. He took his scalping Crapsman back across the street and never looked back.

First, find out if some anal retentive relative just did it without asking. If not, don't go back.
You can find better customers.

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I'm afraid I have to agree with THarrel. Customers like this usually turn into a pain in the rear, long term. We have in our contracts a 20.00 trip fee if we show and not mow. You dont have to have this in your contract to charge them so I'd charge them 20.00 at least for the trip costs. As mentioned, put this in your contracts for next year.

If you can afford to skip it and wait for them to call. I have one that this happened to last Thursday and tomorrow i will be skipping it since i left a message with the husband for his wife to call and she has not called yet.

You cannot claim credit for good behavior until you have been subject to temptations!

I got to a customers house the other day and it was already cut (by them because the mower was sitting out) I knocked on the door and no one answerd the door so I left. I gave them a call today to see what the deal is and if I'm still even cutting for them so we'll see what happens when I get a call back.

The thing that p's me off is I've been trying to keep all my accounts from burning so I cut them alittle higher and have been hitting them every 8 days, well they go and butcher the crap out of their yard, had to have been cut on 2" or less. So I can only imagine what it looks like now, if it even needs cut.

Heres the problem, my contracts don't say anything about a penelty charge for driving out and it being done already, just says if they're unhappy they can cancel service with 2 weeks notice and they still have to pay for the following two weeks of service. Well I timed it and it took me 20 mins to get to the place, stop, and get back to where I had to be (yes its out of the way but its a large property=good money) so I wasted 20 mins and fuel to get there, so I thought about putting a charge in there for 15 bucks for wasting my time. Should I do that even though its not stated in the contracts, would that be out of line? I think I have to change my contracts up to include that and a fuel surcharge. It's going to suck for them if they cancel and don't want me to mow anymore because they WILL be chaged for 2 cuts and the wasted time of driving out there the one time.

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Charge them for the cut. + It's their responsibility to notify you of cancelation. You've already lost the client I'm afraid. Oh they may have you cut it a few more times but I'm afraid they are about done with you.

Well it is stated in the contract that service continues 2 weeks after cancellation notice, they can choose to have me cut 2 more times or just pay me for the following two and not have me cut, dont matter to me, just as long as I get my money.

I drove by today while going to a store and looks like they cut it again over the weekend because its scalped pretty bad. I left a message with them yesterday asking what the deal was, they called back while I was out and didn't leave a message, i called again and no answer (5 mins after they called). I'm not playing games, they'll get a letter with june's invoice saying they owe 20 dollars for me driving out and owe me for 2 more cuts as the contract states.